Chapter 608: A Wildfire Starts From a Tiny Spark - 6
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 608: A Wildfire Starts From a Tiny Spark - 6
The Saintess of Origin had told me that a universal order was necessary and that this would never change. She pleaded with me, her voice full of desperation, as if trying to convince me.
I thought she was saying it because I was the King of Humans. I thought it stemmed from a desire for recognition, a wish to boast of her achievements… but it seemed that wasn't the case.
“You want me to be your yardstick. To give you a guideline for how you should act from now on.”
“Yes! That’s it!”
“And if I become your yardstick, what happens to me?”
“Umm… I need to think about that for a moment…”
My sister clutched her head, groaning in thought, before speaking as if a brilliant idea had just struck her.
“Do you want to come inside me?”
“No, I don’t.”
She wanted me to abandon my body and enter her Spiritual World. That was basically dying. Who in their right mind would agree to that?
“It’s not dying! You’ll be able to feel everything I see, hear, and feel!”
“I’m a bit too old to be living with my sister. Besides, it sounds cramped.”
“It’s not cramped! I’m often told how broad-minded I am!”
“I prefer to walk with my own legs and see with my own eyes. It’s suffocating to only see what someone else shows you.”
“Hmph.”
Her words trailing off, my sister made a more cautious suggestion.
“Then, it might be a little inconvenient, but will you stand by my side? You’ll be free to move on your own two feet, but in exchange, I’ll run the risk of losing you.”
“Do we have to be together?”
“Of course. You’re my yardstick. Just as you must always carry a compass, even if you don’t often take it out, I must have you with me!”
“A life bound to my sister. That sounds like hell for a little brother.”
“Hell doesn’t care about your convenience. It doesn’t cherish you or treat you with care, nor does it make suggestions in such a gentle tone. So comparing your sister to hell is just wrong!”
True, a demon from hell probably wouldn't be a pretty older sister who buys you meals and treats you kindly.
The second offer was a little tempting. It meant I could watch over the world from under my sister’s protection, offering my input here and there. Wielding absolute power would certainly be fun.
“No.”
But I refused. I rejected my sister’s proposal flat out. A look of confusion crossed her face.
“You don’t like this, you don’t like that. You’re a very picky little brother.”
“I am your little brother. You have to understand that I’m going to be spoiled.”
“Then you must understand that I don’t understand you. Let me ask. Why not?”
As my sister thought, it was true that I had taken sides. In the Military State, I sided with Abbey; in the Fallen Dominion, with Peru; and in the Duchy, with Tyr.
But I always allowed for an opposing side. And I let the winds clash against each other.
“A game where the outcome is already decided is no fun.”
Surprised, my sister asked, “A game? You play those?”
“It’s fun. You should try it, sis.”
“Didn’t you just say a game with a set outcome is no fun? You can read minds.”
Well, I did have a much bigger advantage than others. But the outcome was never set in stone.
“Sis, do you know how I won so many games?”
“Since you’re asking me to ask, I’ll ask. How did you win?”
“It’s because I’ve played that many games.”
If you only ever win, no one will want to play with you. You have to lose every now and then. And losing isn’t particularly difficult.
“Sometimes the face-down card smiles upon your opponent, and sometimes the board flips on a sudden whim. You can even be dealt a hand that’s impossible to win with, no matter what. Even I, who can read my opponent’s intentions, have lost countless times. If you look at my win rate, it’s probably around sixty percent.”
“For something you like, you’re not that good at it.”
“Sixty percent is plenty good. And it has to be that way for them to let me in on the next game. No one looks for a guy who wins all the time.”
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Many things don’t go my way. But when I win, I enjoy it, and when I lose, I shake it off and move on to the next game.
“I want everyone to have a seat at the game table. It might not be fair, and the stakes might be different for everyone, but they must be opponents in the game. I can’t be the one to decide which desire is right or wrong. That’s what the game is for.”
What’s right and what’s wrong changes with the situation. Even my own judgments, made with the ability to read minds, are wrong forty percent of the time. A sixty percent win rate can’t be the absolute answer.
I lose sometimes, too. But a loss isn’t wrong. It just means my play wasn’t right for that particular round.
So, there’s even less reason to establish a non-existent correct answer.
“The answer is something you find as you go. On and on. As long as there’s an opponent, you have to keep competing.”
That’s why I won’t side with order. I won’t stand by my sister’s side and judge the world by my own standards.
I’ll just keep playing the game.
My sister looked at me with a hint of disappointment. It was the kind of look one gives a disobedient younger brother. Though I wasn’t really a brother and didn’t really have a sister, I felt like I could somehow understand their feelings.
“Is that your decision?”
“Yes.”
If what my sister needed was a yardstick, then she had to follow it. If this was my conclusion, then she had to follow it, too.
However, there was still one problem left.
“Then, who will be my opponent?”
My sister is special.
Even among the conceptual beings known as the Beast Kings, the King of the Human Species, who reigned over the continent and reached the throne of the Divine, was unique. She was beyond judgments of right and wrong. Her actions would become law, become truth.
Perhaps that was why I was here.
“Listening to you, you talk as if the whole world will bend to your will. You think life is that easy? Hah, not a chance. I’ll be your opponent.”
One cannot always fight battles they are guaranteed to win. Humans must always find their answers by pitting their desires against one another.
Those were my words, and they applied to me as well.
“…You? Weak, ordinary you?”
“I’ll show you what I’m made of. Follow me.”
Because I was the only one who could be her opponent. I took her hand and led her away.
*
Nevida’s attacks were rough and powerful. Shei faced death about five times before she barely managed to escape the seed chamber. Wielding Chun-aeng, Shei flew into the sky, looking down at Nevida and panting.
Nevida is a Divine, and she can use that power in battle. She’s incredibly strong, but… she’s not without weaknesses! Nevida lacks mobility!
A tree sinks its roots and stands firm in its place. Nevida was the same. Her power came from the earth and the trees; the empty sky was not a place she could easily reach.
That was why Shei had managed to survive her numerous clashes with Nevida. She could save her own skin with the Heavenly Counter Domain and flee into the sky, making it difficult for Nevida to pursue.
Nevida moved along the Tree of Genesis. It was as if the Tree of Genesis itself was holding her and pulling her up. That, too, was astonishingly fast, but it couldn't compare to flight. Having gained sufficient distance, Shei thought.
By now, the druids must have infiltrated the floor of the Human Regime. I have to at least draw her attention. I can’t guarantee they’ll succeed, but if Nevida goes, they’ll definitely fail!
Her mind made up, Shei shouted down to Nevida.
“Let’s just watch together. And see who becomes the next King of Humans!”
“You will not have that chance.”
Despite the countless threats already directed at the Tree of Genesis, Nevida ignored them all, her gaze fixed solely on Shei. As if, without Shei, no other threat mattered.
“So arrogant, just because you’re in the sky. How long do you think it will protect you?”
Nevida grasped the Little World Tree with both hands and pressed it against the Tree of Genesis. Roots instantly shot out from the cross-section of the Little World Tree, digging deep into the Tree of Genesis.
“The sky is inherently empty and void. It may watch over you with indifference, but it cannot help you. That is why the Sky God is, by nature, a false and hollow being.”
The form of the Little World Tree changed. Some parts grew, while others withered and fell away. It was as if an invisible landscaper was pruning its branches. Shei’s eyes widened as she observed the transformation.
What? That shape is…
The Little World Tree, now altered into an uneven form… looked just like the Tree of Genesis.
The moment Shei realized this, Nevida gripped a branch of the Little World Tree and moved it.
And then, the unbelievable happened.
The Tree of Genesis, its size comparable to a mountain, does not move on a macro scale. On a micro scale, the people living upon it might see its branches sway in the wind, but those are just the tiniest twigs, branching off dozens of times from the main trunk. The thick trunk and the massive boughs extending from it were not of a scale to be shaken even by a storm.
That Tree of Genesis.
Was moving.
A colossal mass was moving. The displaced air created a deep, rumbling roar. Leaves that couldn't keep up with the movement scattered like clumps of feathers, and branches snapping under the force of inertia echoed across the land with a sound one would only hear in a lumber mill.
“Huh? The branch is…”
“Aaaargh!”
“Help me!”
And embroidering this scene were the screams of humans, scattering like fallen leaves.
The great tree was impartial. It paid no mind to the well-being of the insects that lived on it, eating its leaves. It simply moved.
The residents of the World Tree’s shade would feel it was unfair. Common sense dictates that trees do not move. They might have worried about falling, but no one could have predicted that the tree itself would move and cast them off.
“This is…!”
Utterly aghast, Shei fled for her life. Because of its sheer scale, the Tree of Genesis appeared to move slowly, but the speed of the approaching branches far surpassed the speed of sound.
To be grazed by it meant death. Even if she dodged, she would be swept up in the aftermath. Shei instinctively flew diagonally. As she escaped, spewing compressed air, an arm laden with countless branches swung toward her.
An attack so vast it defied perspective. A sight like the world itself was attacking. Vortices clinging to the branches distorted space, and the shockwaves tore the world apart. With movement faster than sound, even the wind became a great whip, lashing out at Shei.
At the last moment, Shei detonated the wind beneath her feet.
“Ugh!”
Just as the massive branch seemed to narrowly miss her, countless smaller branches suddenly sprouted and shot toward Shei. It was as if legions from hell were reaching out to grab her. Shei cut them all down with slashes wreathed in wind.
“Hah! Hah! Nevida, you crazy bitch…!”
But Shei couldn’t smile. Before her eyes, countless people were being flung away along with the leaves. A cacophony of screams rode the wind, blowing past her before fading into the distance.
People lived on the branches of the World Tree. And the people who lived off the grace bestowed by the Tree of Genesis paid too high a price for it.
There was no way to save them, nor was there time. Distracted by the sight of people falling like leaves, Shei was late in sensing Nevida’s presence. Nevida, who had appeared out of nowhere, made sharply cut bamboo grow toward Shei. As dozens of bamboo spears shot up, Shei, having detected the attack with her Heavenly Counter Domain, dodged and deflected them in succession, dropping downwards.
“There are people living up there! Don’t you care if they die?!”
“How absurd. Do you think I would bat an eye at the deaths of those who freeload on my tree?”
“It’s not just one or two, it’s more than hundreds! They’re all going to die!” Shei screamed, her emotions running high, but Nevida merely looked at her calmly.
“Who was it that blocked the waterways to weaken the tree’s essence?”
Shei’s eyes widened.
The ones who blocked the waterways were the druids, led by Neph. The Saintess of the Sun had probably helped as well, to further dry out the land.
“Who was it that gave up on facing me and flew up to stall for time?”
That was Shei. She had flown into the sky to buy time, thinking there wasn’t much Nevida could do there. It had been a rational choice.
“Who was it that insisted on making this place the battlefield? You are the ones who came here, the ones who resorted to all sorts of tricks. Do you intend to use them as hostages now?”
She had no such intention. But, while they had a plan, it was also true that they hadn't considered the safety of the World Tree's inhabitants.
It would be difficult to hold Shei responsible, as even she hadn't predicted that Nevida would move the Tree of Genesis itself. But could she hold Nevida responsible?
Nevida provided the answer to that as well.
“If you insist, then let it be my responsibility. It matters not to me.”
As if to say it was all just a game of words, Nevida muttered and moved the branches in pursuit of Shei. Shei clicked her tongue as she watched Nevida approach along the tree.
“Tch…!”
I have to go up. People live below! If I go higher, she won’t be able to use her full power for fear of hurting the King of Humans!
The residents of the World Tree’s shade lived mostly on the lower parts. If Shei went higher, it would be more logical for Nevida to move the uninhabited upper branches, leaving the residents below safe.
That was about the only choice Shei could make.
“I acknowledge your intent.”
But the fact that Nevida had read her thoughts was a great misfortune for Shei.
The Tree of Genesis slumped. Countless branches that had grown to obscure the sky fell in unison, aiming for Shei. Hanging from them were the meat-fruits where beasts had ripened.
For Shei, it was like countless battering rams were falling upon her. She tracked them all with her Seven Colored Eyes and dodged them with minimal movement, but a much larger problem followed.
The Tree of Genesis itself fell towards Shei. Wreathed in storm and thunder, the branch of the World Tree, falling with the intent to strike a single human, was a calamity born of malice.
It was not on a scale that could be dodged or blocked. Shei raised Chun-aeng. To stop that, she had no choice but to cut it!
“Skyblade Art! Dragon Slayer…!”
Spinning her body in mid-air, Shei enlarged Chun-aeng and unleashed a massive slash.
However, there was no ground to stand on here. Jizan, which could have served as a brace for Chun-aeng, was not with her now. The slash from Chun-aeng was immense and powerful, but compared to the Tree of Genesis, it was no more than an ant before an elephant.
The slash left a large gash on the branch, and the branch swept Shei away.
“Kyaaak…!”
A dizzying impact shook her entire body. A blow that felt like it would knock her unconscious. Shei’s body plummeted to the ground like a stake.
Feeling a pain as if her entire body was shattering, Shei gritted her teeth. She couldn’t let her guard down just because it hurt. Her opponent was Nevida. The absolute ruler of this world. Even a brief moment spent writhing in pain was a luxury.
No, I have to, get a grip…!
“That is enough. It ends now.”
But the gap in power was clear. No matter how much she pushed herself, how much she struggled and strived, it could not be closed.
Nevida gently pulled on a branch of the Little World Tree. In response, the branch of the World Tree bent with a creaking sound.
How much tension lay dormant within it? What colossal power slept there?
And when that power was unleashed, what would happen?
Nevida let go of the branch, and…
“…Ah.”
Even the Heavenly Counter Domain did not react. There was no need for it to. How could one possibly react to and counter a branch of the World Tree hurtling towards them faster than the speed of sound?
Shei’s shell was broken.
It was a force too cruel for a single human to withstand. The Heavenly Counter Domain, which had saved Shei’s life countless times until now, could not save her.
The Heavenly Counter Domain was a Qi Art engraved upon the body. It moved the entire body unconsciously, operated Qi, and reacted to attacks.
Even her thoughts were controlled by the unconscious will of the Heavenly Counter Domain.
Before the great calamity that was a Divine, it failed its duty and fell silent.
Shei’s consciousness sank into the depths. Along with her body.